Wednesday, January 13, 2010

the garden- what I want it to do for me, say about me, how it makes another person feel.


Let me start right off by saying I am building a new garden on the same 2.5 acres that I have my nursery on. I have not started to build a house, but know in the general area where I want it.
To the south of the house site I have placed a double row, alle, of flowering pear trees, Pyrus calleryana 'Whitehouse'. This alle at over 200 feet long, is parallel to the south side of the house hoping to provide shade for the house. Or at least filtered shade. I also am using this alle as an area to divide the house from the nursery, so a buffer zone in some sort of way. Plans are in the works to fill the alle with spring bulbs and a small growing collections of Hydrangea paniculata, Hydrangea quercifolia, Hydragea arborescens, plus a wide variety of Viburnums.

The garden area I have divided into the area where there lawn or meadow, tree and shrub planting, and the vegetable/cutting garden. In front of the house site there is a tight circular drive with a rondel. These are things I think the garden needs, but I have also been thinking about the chicken coupe and yard, smokehouse, tool shed, small barn. The pump house is in the middle of the nursery sales yard. At present there is one 100'x30'greenhouse, and I have plans on adding two 20'x40' smaller greenhouses this year. One of these will be heated for overwintering tender thiing and tropicals. Between them maybe small potting area that is enclosed?

Alright, so what to I want my garden to do for me. Not in any order really.
1. Needs to feel tranqil and calm even though it may be under construction.
2. Have plenty of interest going on in it and not be full of plants that that just create static. i.e No treelines of Geijera parviflora or Populus deltoides.
3. The garden has year around interest. Bloom, bark, friut, structure, leaves....
4. Be a personal showcase.
5. Draw in birdlife and plenty of other small creatures that are benificial.
6. Have formal aspects, but be comfortable and cassual to anyone that enters.
7. Provide food and flowers for the myself and entertaining.
8. Be an oasis. -I live in the desert and don't need to be reminded of that in my garden. Denial is a healthy part of anything isn't it?
9. Want people to feel that they are at home in my garden.
10.That it feels big, but has cozy spots in it as well.
11. It must be dog friendly...anything around my place should be dog friendly. I have dogs, my friends have dogs.

1 comment:

  1. Numbers 1 thru 11 = exactly what I would have written about MY fledgling garden...had I ever gotten around to putting it into words! Well done!!

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